Purvanchal Expressway

Context:

Indian Prime Minister has inaugurated Purvanchal Expressway at Karwal Kheri in Sultanpur district recently.

About Purvanchal Expressway

• The six-lane (expandable to eight lanes) access-controlled Purvanchal Expressway, which is 341 kilometres long, originating from Lucknow’s Chand Sarai to Haidaria in Ghazipur district, is being developed on an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) basis.
• The Purvanchal Expressway will provide seamless connectivity between nine predominantly agricultural districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Lucknow.
• Besides, it will also connect them to Delhi via the 302-km long Agra-Lucknow Expressway as well as the 165-km long Agra-Greater Noida Yamuna Expressway.
• The Purvanchal Expressway will pass through most backward districts of the state including, Azamgarh, Barabanki, Amethi, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Ambedkarnagar, Ghazipur and Mau.
• Thus, it is being expected that the Purvanchal Expressway will transform the under-developed region as well as usher in economic prosperity.
• Besides, enhancing the prospects for tourism in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the Purvanchal Expressway is also likely to give a boost to agriculture, industrial and commercial activities.
• It is also being said that the expressway would attract investment in the food processing, warehousing, handloom as well as dairy sectors, boosting the region and the state’s growth.
• The Purvanchal Expressway is also expected to provide several other benefits such as time-saving, control in pollution level, fuel-saving, reduction in accidents, etc.
• Durgesh Upadhyay, media advisor in UPEIDA has recently informed that as against 10,000 workers before the lockdown period, only 5,500 workers are working at the site at present. But, the companies working on the 8 packages have been asked to operate at full throttle and expedite the work.
• He further informed that over 80 per cent of the earthwork has been done and nearly 48 per cent of the project’s physical work has been completed. By increasing the size of the workforce, the remaining 52 per cent work will be done within the targetted timeline, he said.

Background

This project was announced by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in May 2015 as Lucknow-Azamgarh-Ballia Expressway. Later, Yogi Adityanath government changed the routes to Lucknow-Azamgarh-Ghazipur. Foundation stone of the expressway was laid July 14, 2018 by Prime Minister Modi. The total project value is Rs 22494 crore. It includes land acquisition cost.

About UPEIDA

UPEIDA stands for Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority. It was established in 2007 by Uttar Pradesh government, to develop expressway projects in the state. Its headquarter is at Paryatan Bhawan in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow.

List of National Expressways–

Industrial Corridor

• About:
  • India is developing various Industrial Corridor Projects as part of the National Industrial Corridor programme.
  • National Industrial Corridor Development Programme is India’s most ambitious infrastructure programme aiming to develop new industrial cities as “Smart Cities” and converging next generation technologies across infrastructure sectors.
• Aim:
  • It is aimed at development of futuristic industrial cities in India which can compete with the best manufacturing and investment destinations in the world.
  • The same will create employment opportunities and economic growth leading to overall socio-economic development.

• Implementing Agency:
  • The development of these eleven industrial corridor projects will be implemented through the National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT).

• Industrial corridors constitute world-class infrastructure, such as:
  • High-speed transportation network – rail and road
  • Ports with state-of-the-art cargo handling equipment
  • Modern airports
  • Special economic regions/industrial areas
  • Logistic parks/transhipment hubs
  • Knowledge parks focused on catering to industrial needs
  • Complementary infrastructure such as townships/real estate
  • Other urban infrastructure along with enabling policy framework

Source: Indian Express

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